Four held for questioning on fatal house fire

Four men aged between 19 and 25 were being questioned by police yesterday after an arson attack killed seven members of a family, including five children, in Birkby, Huddersfield, early on Sunday.

The fire in Osborne Road, Birkby, has devastated the tight-knit community.

Five sisters, aged between six months and 13 years, and two adults died in the early hours of Sunday. The girls, who last night had not been formally identified by the police, were on an extended visit from Pakistan with their mother. They were the granddaughters of Abdul Aziz Chishti, the homeowner, who escaped from the blaze.

Shortly before the fire broke out, a group of Asian youths were seen throwing objects - possibly a petrol bomb - at the stone terraced house.

At the time of the attack, there were 11 members of the same family asleep inside. Four people, including Mr Chishti's wife and their two children, managed to escaped the fire.

West Yorkshire police arrested four local men in connection with their inquiry on Sunday night. Last night the men, all of whom were Asian, had not been charged with any offence.

Mr Chishti, a respected former imam at a local mosque, was treated in hospital for injuries he sustained as he jumped from a first-floor window.

Mohammed Akram, joint secretary of the mosque, said he had visited him in Huddersfield royal infirmary. Mr Chishti has since been released from hospital.

"It must have been horrendous for him standing and watching while his family were burnt," said Mr Akram. He said that prayers were being said for the family across Huddersfield.

Mr Akram said nobody knew why it had happened. "What could they have gained by killing so many people?" he asked.

Mrs Chishti was last night in Leeds general infirmary, critically ill with head injuries. Her son was in a special unit in a Manchester hospital suffering from serious burns.

One granddaughter who died, aged 13, was a student at Fartown high school in Huddersfield. Pupils delivered flowers to the house and were contributing to a book of remembrance.

The school's headteacher, Warwick Firmin, said that only last week the girl had been voted student of the week by her classmates. "What has happened is absolutely awful," said Mr Firmin. "We had a minute's silence at 9.15am and her year group took part in a special assembly."